Visiting Kurdistan as an anti-occupation, anti-imperialist is, admittedly, a head wreck.

It isn’t just the fact that Suleymania, a university town in the eastern part of the region governed by the PUK, is surrounded by green mountains and lakes and coniferous trees, and looks like a different country than the one I’ve lived in for the past two months. Or the fact that the amount of Kurdish spoken makes it sound like a different country. Or even the fact that the distinctly Kurdish culture, evident to a first-time visitor in dress and in a propensity for lavish Friday picnics, makes it feel like a different country.

Taxonomy upgrade extras:

As the US pursues its War of Terror in Iraq, the kidnappings of foreigners by the muqawama (resistance fighters) has grabbed the media spotlight. In response to the kidnappings, many international NGOs and humanitarian aid organizations have moved their foreign staff to Amman. Foreign journalists who haven’t already left the country are nearly paralyzed, reporting from their seats in front of TV sets in hotel compounds ‘secured’ by blast walls, armed guards and the right connections. This isn’t a huge change for the staffs of some news channels – for security reasons, CNN hasn’t let its foreign journalists out on the streets of Baghdad after 4 PM for the past year of occupation. But for many reporters, both independent and mainstream, the current immobility is insanely frustrating.

Taxonomy upgrade extras:

Exactly a year after we were told that the war had ended and that freedom had been brought to the people of Iraq, the square in which Saddam’s statue was toppled was put under curfew again. The curfew didn't prevent a mortar attack on the Alwiyah Club that stands beside the square hidden behind blast walls.

Yesterday, reports from Falluja indicated that the city was still being held under siege by US Occupation Forces, as it had been since Tuesday. In the morning, word came that a cease-fire had been negotiated between US soldiers and resistance fighters, but by afternoon, the cease-fire was off. US Occupation Forces had continued to bomb the city with mortars, Apache helicopters, fighter planes, RPG7s and cluster bombs.

Taxonomy upgrade extras:

At 8 PM on Sunday night, Thawra looks like it is under curfew. At a time when they are normally thronging with people and filled with noise, the streets are dark, and all the shops are closed and locked for the night. Every few blocks we see groups of twenty or so young men in black moving restively and carrying guns Â– members of Moqtada Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army, patrolling their neighborhood. Other than that, the only people we see out are lined up in front of the Sadr hospital gates, waiting for news of the injured and the dead.

We hear tank fire in the distance, and drive past a burning US humvee. A few streets later, we pass a group of five US tanks; tense looking soldiers surround cuffed detainees.

Sadr City is a massive subdivision tacked on to the North end of Baghdad. It is home to 2 million of Baghdad’s 5 million residents. It is a Shia area, and mostly very poor.

During the regime era, the area was known as Saddam City and was strictly off limits to foreigners. Shia were kept out of universities and government jobs throughout the 80s and 90s – a silent freeze-out of the majority of Iraqis through which Saddam sought to divide Sunni and Shia and shore up his control. Many were isolated in Saddam City by poverty, and by the Mukhabarat.

Taxonomy upgrade extras:

En Camino volunteer Misha Laban is in the Occupied Territories, and will be spending a bit of time there. Misha was asked to contribute a journal/diary/weblog/blog. Misha's insights, photos, and observations will be collected here. We hope you find them as exemplary as we do.

Base 202, Torturing Kids to "Protect" Settlers:
Imposing the Logic of Apartheid in the Nablus Governorate
March 26, 2004

[The following is a testimonial written by an ISM volunteer about the arbitrary detention and torture of 7 Palestinians between the ages of 13-18 on March 23rd, 2004 by IOF authorities at Base 202 near the Israeli settler-colony of Ellon Moreh. The author of this testimonial would appreciate suggestions on reporting this incident to relevant human rights organisations and authorities (including Israeli and International NGOs, as well as the UN Human Rights Rapporteur). The full names of the children in this case have been omitted although these can be obtained upon request, along with relevant contact information.]

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Silence from the media is expected. But what of the silence from the 'left', while massacres are going on?

Anthony Fenton
March 15, 2004

One thing we didn’t have during the 1991-94 *original* Aristide coup years was the World Wide Web. Back then, leftists could [maybe] be forgiven for their ignorance toward Haitian realities. This time around, there is no excuse. Where between 91-94 there was a relative dearth of insight and analysis into the actualities of the coup and its aftermath, in the lead up to and following the recent coup, we have seen a boon of such articles. In general, alternative, independent media ought to be commended for this.

Taxonomy upgrade extras:

En Camino volunteer Misha Laban is in the Occupied Territories, and will be spending a bit of time there. Misha was asked to contribute a journal/diary/weblog/blog. Misha's insights, photos, and observations will be collected here. We hope you find them as exemplary as we do.

All Palestine, One Prison
Report from Nablus, Tubas, and Jenin
March 12th - March 15th, 2004

Today the IOF rolled into Balata camp once again, occupying two houses and declaring curfew on the residents who suddenly -- once again -- found themselves trapped in their homes. Today a ten year old boy was arrested by the Israeli military for allegedly carrying 'explosive materials' from the agricultural village of Zawata into Nablus. Today, the IOF deployed an APC, a Border Police jeep and razor wire, while issuing an order declaring the Salem crossing/base a 'closed military area' (CMA) to the 30 Palestinians and two internationals that had come to hold a peaceful vigil in solidarity with political prisoner Hussam Khader.